The History of the Peloponnesian War

Page: 305

After encouraging each other in these resolutions, they now at once sent
off half the envoys and Pisander to do what was necessary at Athens (with
instructions to establish oligarchies on their way in all the subject
cities which they might touch at), and dispatched the other half in
different directions to the other dependencies. Diitrephes also, who was
in the neighbourhood of Chios, and had been elected to the command of the
Thracian towns, was sent off to his government, and arriving at Thasos
abolished the democracy there. Two months, however, had not elapsed after
his departure before the Thasians began to fortify their town, being
already tired of an aristocracy with Athens, and in daily expectation of
freedom from Lacedaemon. Indeed there was a party of them (whom the
Athenians had banished), with the Peloponnesians, who with their friends
in the town were already making every exertion to bring a squadron, and to
effect the revolt of Thasos; and this party thus saw exactly what they
most wanted done, that is to say, the reformation of the government
without risk, and the abolition of the democracy which would have opposed
them. Things at Thasos thus turned out just the contrary to what the
oligarchical conspirators at Athens expected; and the same in my opinion
was the case in many of the other dependencies; as the cities no sooner
got a moderate government and liberty of action, than they went on to
absolute freedom without being at all seduced by the show of reform
offered by the Athenians.

Pisander and his colleagues on their voyage alongshore abolished, as had
been determined, the democracies in the cities, and also took some heavy
infantry from certain places as their allies, and so came to Athens. Here
they found most of the work already done by their associates. Some of the
younger men had banded together, and secretly assassinated one Androcles,
the chief leader of the commons, and mainly responsible for the banishment
of Alcibiades; Androcles being singled out both because he was a popular
leader and because they sought by his death to recommend themselves to
Alcibiades, who was, as they supposed, to be recalled, and to make
Tissaphernes their friend. There were also some other obnoxious persons
whom they secretly did away with in the same manner. Meanwhile their cry
in public was that no pay should be given except to persons serving in the
war, and that not more than five thousand should share in the government,
and those such as were most able to serve the state in person and in
purse.

But this was a mere catchword for the multitude, as the authors of the
revolution were really to govern. However, the Assembly and the Council of
the Bean still met notwithstanding, although they discussed nothing that
was not approved of by the conspirators, who both supplied the speakers
and reviewed in advance what they were to say. Fear, and the sight of the
numbers of the conspirators, closed the mouths of the rest; or if any
ventured to rise in opposition, he was presently put to death in some
convenient way, and there was neither search for the murderers nor justice
to be had against them if suspected; but the people remained motionless,
being so thoroughly cowed that men thought themselves lucky to escape
violence, even when they held their tongues. An exaggerated belief in the
numbers of the conspirators also demoralized the people, rendered helpless
by the magnitude of the city, and by their want of intelligence with each
other, and being without means of finding out what those numbers really
were. For the same reason it was impossible for any one to open his grief
to a neighbour and to concert measures to defend himself, as he would have
had to speak either to one whom he did not know, or whom he knew but did
not trust. Indeed all the popular party approached each other with
suspicion, each thinking his neighbour concerned in what was going on, the
conspirators having in their ranks persons whom no one could ever have
believed capable of joining an oligarchy; and these it was who made the
many so suspicious, and so helped to procure impunity for the few, by
confirming the commons in their mistrust of one another.